Waverly
Nah...
The Beliefs of Rotsheimgaard
The Old Faith
The Old Faith was the main belief in Rotsheimgaard up until the end of the Current Age. It's a polytheistic religion that worships a handful of gods, who each personifies a part of nature or other aspects of the human world. For a follower of The Old Faith, the ultimate goal is be allowed in the Gudsheimgaard (Garden of the Gods) in the afterlife. This is done by doing their bidding during your earthly life in Rotsheimgaard. The Old Faith demands sacrifice, this is commonly done by slaughtering a lamb, swine or goat at certain occasions during the year, but may in some cases even involve human sacrifice. All sacrifices are burnt or hung to rot on big poles.
Temples are typically wooded structures with several chimneys in stone – one for each God. The temples are surrounded by wooded stakes with metal rings for hanging sacrifice. The Priests of The Old Faith live and tend the temples in solitude. However, they may only do so after first having taken a wife and raised a child, leaving their old life behind as the ultimate sacrifice.
There are many Gods (and they differ from region to region) but the most common ones are;
The One Faith
The One Faith is a younger religion that is said to have come from unknown lands far across the southern seas. It is a religion that worships only one god – The One. The One decides what is right and what is wrong, and punishes those that wrong him/her but rewards those that are loyal. His/her priests are tasked to interpret his/her will in order to guide the people into doing what is right.
The afterlife is believed to be a result of your deeds in Rotsheimgaard. If you lived a right life and did the bidding of The One, you'll end up in the eternal paradise of Heaven, but if you wronged him/her you'll instead end up in a the fires of Hell.
Temples in honour of The One are often impressive stone buildings that sport the shooting star symbol of The One. Temples often have big bells that ring on certain occasions. As a believer in The One Faith you must visit the temple once a week, or repent by fasting one day within one moon cycle for each missed session.
Priests of The One Faith may not take a wife/husband or raise any children.
The One is considered a woman in northern Sverjia, but is thought to be a man in southernmost Sverjia and Danr. This is the cause of many conflicts across the realms. In addition, priests may not be of a different gender than their God, meaning that most Sverjian priests are women, while Danr priests are all men.
Tjettanis
The last, and most uncommon, faith is that of Tjettanis – a cult that worships the unholy spirits of demons, ghosts or other otherworldly beings. The cult demands sacrifice, just like The Old Faith, but promises power in return. In Tjettanis there is no afterlife other than Dimgaard (the eternal mist where the souls of the dead wander for ever), and thus, being powerful in this life is what is most important. Many creatures, such as trolls, dwarves and even certain kinds of elves belong to different branches this religion. Among humans, Tjettanis is the religion of witches and conjurers.
The worshipers of Tjettanis are sworn enemies of The One Faith. They would never willingly enter a church or say a prayer in the name of The One. They feel pure hatred towards The One and his/her followers.
Some followers of the Tjettanis faith are so desperate for power that they let demons or ghosts posses their own bodies, something which often results in never getting them back!
Divine gifts
Even though most people in Rotsheimgaard worship and pray to a deity, only a select few are truly favoured by their gods. These people often are often granted special abilities as divine gifts from their gods. What sort of ability it is varies greatly, but as a rule the divine gifts offer abilities that directly aids the person to do the bidding of their deity. For example; Kunr could grant a character the ability to understand (but not speak) any spoken language in order to help his subject learn more things.
Divine gifts are different from the woven spells of the Wind Weavers, first and foremost because they do not need wind to work. Nor do the character have to activate the effect by performing a ritual of any kind, the effect just appears whenever the god finds need for it. As such, divine gifts cannot be taught to someone else, nor can they be learned, they just are there sometimes and sometimes they are not. This also means that the character can not activate a divine ability on demand, they must be activated by the deity in question.
If a person betrays the trust of his or her deity, they risk losing their divine gifts.
The Old Faith
The Old Faith was the main belief in Rotsheimgaard up until the end of the Current Age. It's a polytheistic religion that worships a handful of gods, who each personifies a part of nature or other aspects of the human world. For a follower of The Old Faith, the ultimate goal is be allowed in the Gudsheimgaard (Garden of the Gods) in the afterlife. This is done by doing their bidding during your earthly life in Rotsheimgaard. The Old Faith demands sacrifice, this is commonly done by slaughtering a lamb, swine or goat at certain occasions during the year, but may in some cases even involve human sacrifice. All sacrifices are burnt or hung to rot on big poles.
Temples are typically wooded structures with several chimneys in stone – one for each God. The temples are surrounded by wooded stakes with metal rings for hanging sacrifice. The Priests of The Old Faith live and tend the temples in solitude. However, they may only do so after first having taken a wife and raised a child, leaving their old life behind as the ultimate sacrifice.
There are many Gods (and they differ from region to region) but the most common ones are;
- Lynn – The God of storms and war. Portrayed as a red-head woman with a giant spear in hand.
- Wann – The God of water and fertility. Portrayed as a woman carrying a basket of apples.
- Rawnn – The God of the night and day. Portrayed as a raven with two heads.
- Kunr – The God of wisdom and knowledge. Portrayed as an old man riding a moose.
- Rimr – The God of winter and mountains. Portrayed a big man in a bear-skin cape.
- Kvicke – [SIZE= 1.3rem]The God of animals and the hunt. Portrayed as a young man wearing clothes of moss and leaves, always barefoot.[/SIZE]
The One Faith
The One Faith is a younger religion that is said to have come from unknown lands far across the southern seas. It is a religion that worships only one god – The One. The One decides what is right and what is wrong, and punishes those that wrong him/her but rewards those that are loyal. His/her priests are tasked to interpret his/her will in order to guide the people into doing what is right.
The afterlife is believed to be a result of your deeds in Rotsheimgaard. If you lived a right life and did the bidding of The One, you'll end up in the eternal paradise of Heaven, but if you wronged him/her you'll instead end up in a the fires of Hell.
Temples in honour of The One are often impressive stone buildings that sport the shooting star symbol of The One. Temples often have big bells that ring on certain occasions. As a believer in The One Faith you must visit the temple once a week, or repent by fasting one day within one moon cycle for each missed session.
Priests of The One Faith may not take a wife/husband or raise any children.
The One is considered a woman in northern Sverjia, but is thought to be a man in southernmost Sverjia and Danr. This is the cause of many conflicts across the realms. In addition, priests may not be of a different gender than their God, meaning that most Sverjian priests are women, while Danr priests are all men.
Tjettanis
The last, and most uncommon, faith is that of Tjettanis – a cult that worships the unholy spirits of demons, ghosts or other otherworldly beings. The cult demands sacrifice, just like The Old Faith, but promises power in return. In Tjettanis there is no afterlife other than Dimgaard (the eternal mist where the souls of the dead wander for ever), and thus, being powerful in this life is what is most important. Many creatures, such as trolls, dwarves and even certain kinds of elves belong to different branches this religion. Among humans, Tjettanis is the religion of witches and conjurers.
The worshipers of Tjettanis are sworn enemies of The One Faith. They would never willingly enter a church or say a prayer in the name of The One. They feel pure hatred towards The One and his/her followers.
Some followers of the Tjettanis faith are so desperate for power that they let demons or ghosts posses their own bodies, something which often results in never getting them back!
Divine gifts
Even though most people in Rotsheimgaard worship and pray to a deity, only a select few are truly favoured by their gods. These people often are often granted special abilities as divine gifts from their gods. What sort of ability it is varies greatly, but as a rule the divine gifts offer abilities that directly aids the person to do the bidding of their deity. For example; Kunr could grant a character the ability to understand (but not speak) any spoken language in order to help his subject learn more things.
Divine gifts are different from the woven spells of the Wind Weavers, first and foremost because they do not need wind to work. Nor do the character have to activate the effect by performing a ritual of any kind, the effect just appears whenever the god finds need for it. As such, divine gifts cannot be taught to someone else, nor can they be learned, they just are there sometimes and sometimes they are not. This also means that the character can not activate a divine ability on demand, they must be activated by the deity in question.
If a person betrays the trust of his or her deity, they risk losing their divine gifts.
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